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Communication and Information Sector's news service

The Director-General of UNESCO today condemned the killing of Pakistani journalist Raja Assad Hameed at his home in Rawalpindi on 26 March.

“I condemn the murder of Raja Assad Hammeed,” declared the Director-General. “I trust that the authorities will press ahead with a thorough investigation of this crime which undermines journalists’ inalienable human right to freedom of expression and society’s right to enjoy press freedom.”

Raja Assad Hammeed, a senior reporter for the daily Nation and Waqt TV Channel, was shot by unidentified assailants as he arrived at his home.

UNESCO is the only United Nations agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. Article 1 of its Constitution requires the Organization to “further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.” To realize this the Organization is requested to “collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image…”